Tag: Graduate Apprenticeships

Edinburgh Napier supports Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022

Academics and employers outline the benefits of “earn while you learn” GA scheme

October 2021 Grads – Gradutte Apprentice group. These graduates are the first cohort on the Graduate Apprentice prgramme to graduate.

EDINBURGH Napier today pledged its support for Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022 – and underlined the value of apprenticeships to the country’s people, business and economy.

Employers also spoke of the benefits of our Graduate Apprenticeships initiative, which produced its first graduates from the University last October.

Graduate Apprenticeships (GA) offer high quality work-based learning to strengthen the skills people and businesses need.  Available to businesses of any size in Scotland, they provide a route for new and existing staff to get a fully funded university degree while in a paid job.  There is no maximum age limit and learning costs are funded by Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for the full duration of the course.

Last Autumn saw Edinburgh Napier’s first intake complete their degrees four years after the University began offering Graduate Apprenticeships.

Twenty-nine students graduated from the School of Computing under the scheme, with their degrees including BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business, BSc (Hons) Software Development and BEng (Hons) Cyber Security.

This year’s #ScotAppWeek22 (March 7 – 11) theme is Apprenticeships Work, with the aim of highlighting how apprenticeships are providing the skills employers need now and for the future.

Developed in partnership with employers, apprenticeships continue to adapt to respond to industry needs.

Scottish Apprenticeships work by providing thousands of opportunities to get a job, get paid and get qualified across Scotland every year. 

Benefits of Graduate Apprenticeships to business include:

  • Business can attract new, emerging talent through cost-effective recruitment
  • Professional development opportunities for talented and motivated existing employees
  • No learning costs to the employer or the apprentice
  • Improved staff productivity, morale and retention
  • Apprentices bring new ideas by applying their learning in the workplace
  • Graduate Apprentices learn from leading academics and industry experts
  • An excellent way for Apprenticeship Levy paying businesses to recover their investment

On the benefits Graduate Apprenticeships bring to business, Terence Mallon, Project Manager at civil engineers Roadbridge and former Edinburgh Napier student, said: “There is a major skills shortage within construction, particularly in project delivery. Through work-based learning, apprentices know what they are heading into after graduation.

“They realise the risks and rewards, having been nurtured in the workplace for four years, and therefore develop the knowledge and core skills to cope with the demands of project delivery.”

Edinburgh Napier is one of Scotland’s leading learning providers of Graduate Apprenticeships.  Our #ApprenticeshipsWork by giving our students the skills employers need now and for the future. 

Graduate Apprenticeships are offered across a range of subjects in the School of Computing, Business School and School of Engineering and the Built Environment. When our School of Computing cohort graduated last October, they picked up honours degrees at the Usher Hall, but by then they had also amassed up to four years’ work experience, developing skills and knowledge that are essential to their job role.

Professor Sally Smith, Head of Graduate Apprenticeships at Edinburgh Napier, said: “We wholeheartedly agree that #ApprenticeshipsWork so are committed to offering Graduate Apprenticeship places for 2022. Our graduates show how effective they are both for employers with a need for new skills and for individual apprentices.

“More than ever, apprenticeships will prove crucial to Scotland’s economic recovery. Our apprenticeships appeal to school and college leavers including Foundation Apprentices, Modern Apprentices and existing employees. With our apprentices putting their skills to use immediately, both they and their employers benefit from day one.”

Scottish Apprenticeship Week is a time to show that Graduate Apprenticeships provide opportunities that work for everyone. From 7-11 March Edinburgh Napier University is supporting #ScotAppWeek22 to demonstrate that #ApprenticeshipsWork by supporting learners, employers and Scotland’s economic renewal.

For more information on Graduate Apprenticeships at Edinburgh Napier University, visit www.napier.ac.uk/apprenticeships or email ga@napier.ac.uk. 

Share your stories and get involved in #ScotAppWeek22 by visiting apprenticeships.scot/scotappweek.

‘Earn while you learn’ scheme produces first Napier graduates

A groundbreaking initiative which allows students to study for a university degree while in paid employment yesterday (October 27) produced its first graduates at Edinburgh Napier University.

Twenty-nine students graduated from the university’s School of Computing under the Graduate Apprenticeships scheme, with their degrees including BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business, BSc (Hons) Software Development and BEng (Hons) Cyber Security.

A graduation ceremony at the city’s Usher Hall saw the university’s first intake complete their degrees four years after the university began offering Graduate Apprenticeships, an initiative developed by Skills Development Scotland in partnership with industry and the higher education sector.

Graduate Apprenticeships drive economic growth by offering employers the chance to train and develop new and existing employees through a fully funded university degree.

The apprenticeships combine academic knowledge with skills development, and Edinburgh Napier now offers GA courses in its School of Computing, Business School and School of Engineering & the Built Environment.

Among today’s first Edinburgh Napier graduates from the scheme was Craig Potter, 38, a Detective Sergeant with Police Scotland, who graduated with a first class BEng honours degree in Cyber Security.

Craig, of Edinburgh, said: “It has been four years of hard slog in addition to my full-time work as a police officer, but I feel a real sense of achievement in completing my degree.

“It has helped me get promoted and has helped Police Scotland in terms of upskilling staff. A lot of my work-based projects and my dissertation have been around improving the force capability in relation to the investigation of Cryptocurrency, so there are tangible benefits to both employers and employees in going down this route.”

Graduate Apprenticeships are available to businesses of any size in Scotland, with apprentices typically spending 80 per cent of their time in the workplace and 20 per cent at university. They are available for people looking for a new job with a participating employer as well as those looking to upskill through their current job, and tasks and projects apprentices carry out in work can count towards their degree.

Professor Sally Smith, Head of Graduate Apprenticeships at Edinburgh Napier, said: “We’re delighted to see our first ever graduate apprentices crossing the stage this year. Graduation is a time to reflect on personal achievements and celebrate all that hard work paying off.

“We also acknowledge the support provided by employers, the early adopters who recognised the strengths of the Graduate Apprenticeship model. From that first day four years ago, the apprenticeships have gone from strength to strength, expanding into new subjects.”

Scott Killen, the university’s employment liaison and recruitment manager, said: “In order for a Graduate Apprentice to succeed their employer must be dedicated to supporting them in their university work, professional development and work-based learning. 

“The employers of the class of 2021 took a big risk in enrolling their staff into a brand new degree programme in September 2017. 

“They have been instrumental in the graduating cohort’s success.  Their contribution and feedback has also helped us continually improve how we support employers and apprentices to deliver positive learning experience both in university and the workplace.”

Mira Thow, Global HR Manager with KAL, a leader in ATM software, said: “Graduate profiles are an invaluable part of the future of our business. Each year KAL ATM Software Gmbh hires a cohort of at least 12 talented, driven students from the best universities in the world.

“After four years of intensive training and development in our graduate program, it is truly inspiring to see our first cohort of Graduate Apprentices blossom into fully fledged engineers who we are also confident will become the next generation of business leaders.”

Edinburgh Napier expands Graduate Apprenticeship programme

Edinburgh Napier Univeristy has strengthened its Graduate Apprenticeship programme with the announcement of nearly 200 new opportunities for people to study for an honours degree while in employment.

The University currently has 273 Graduate Apprentices actively studying across three cohorts. The first cohort joined Edinburgh Napier in September 2017.

The current batch of Graduate Apprentices will soon be joined by a fourth cohort, with the University announcing it has 185 new positions across a range of subjects within its School of Computing, Business School and School of Engineering and the Built Environment.

The courses available are:

BA (Hons) Business Management, BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, BSc (Hons) Construction & the Built Environment, BEng (Hons) Engineering: Design and Manufacture, BEng (Hons) Cybersecurity, BSc (Hons) Data Science, BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business and BSc (Hons) Software Development.

Each programme has been assigned 20 new places, other than the BSc (Hons) Construction & the Built Environment programme, which offers 45 places across four different learning pathways: Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying, Real Estate Surveying and Architectural Technology.

Sally Smith, Dean of Edinburgh Napier’s School of Computing, said: “We are delighted to have more Graduate Apprenticeship places for 2020. Our previous experience shows how effective they are for employers with a need for new skills and for individual apprentices.

“Our apprenticeships appeal to school and college leavers, Modern Apprentices and existing employees. With our apprentices putting their skills to use immediately, both they and their employers benefit from day one.”

Graduate Apprenticeships have been developed by Skills Development Scotland in partnership with industry and the further and higher education sectors.

Graduate Apprenticeships are a new way for individuals to get qualified up to Masters degree level while in paid employment. They are designed by employers and offered in key sectors that need highly skilled employees. Anyone over the age of 16 who lives in Scotland is eligible, and there are no course fees to pay for apprentices or employers.

Participants spend approximately 80 per cent of their time in work and 20 per cent in university, and can qualify for entry based on both academic and relevant work experience.  Employers can either hire new recruits or upskill existing staff.

The strong emphasis on work-based learning, especially in latter stages of the degree, enables flexible learning approaches to best meet the needs and challenges of the apprentices.

Jessica Auld, who is working at Aegon while attending university one day a week to study a Graduate Apprenticeship in BEng (Hons) Cyber Security, said: “Studying at university and learning on the job means that I’m constantly learning and developing my skill set and knowledge.

“It’s exciting to know that at the end of four years I’ll have an honours degree plus four years work experience. For me, the role has opened up so many different opportunities and most importantly; I have met some great people along the way – my team and the other apprentices have been such a great support network.”

The programmes delivered by Edinburgh Napier have already delivered demonstrable success both for the apprentices and their employers. Some apprentices have even been promoted within 18 months of starting their GA, demonstrating the strong link between academic progression and professional development.

Jennifer Knights from NHS Education for Scotland, who is currently a workplace mentor for one of the apprentices, said: “I have been very impressed with Edinburgh Napier University and their Graduate Apprenticeship offer.

“I think it’s fantastic and we need a lot more of it. I think the reputation is growing as other managers see the impact and can recognise that this is making people excited about work.”

Diane Greenlees, Skills Development Scotland Director of Critical Skills and Occupations, said: “More and more Scottish employers are turning to Graduate Apprenticeships to meet their critical skills needs.

“Graduate Apprenticeships are industry-led and delivered with universities in Scotland, ensuring businesses have access to high-level skills and providing both new and existing employees with the opportunities to get a job and get a degree.”

For more information on Graduate Apprenticeship opportunities available at Edinburgh Napier, please visit www.napier.ac.uk/apprenticeships or email ga@napier.ac.uk

Edinburgh Napier has 185 new Graduate Apprenticeship opportunities

University doubles its GA work-based learning offering

EDINBURGH Napier University has doubled the number of places available for apprenticeship jobs which give people the chance to study for an honours degree while in full-time employment. Continue reading Edinburgh Napier has 185 new Graduate Apprenticeship opportunities

Napier Graduate Apprenticeships programme breaks new ground

A SCHEME which gives people the chance to study for university level qualifications while in paid full-time employment is being expanded into two new Schools at Edinburgh Napier University. Continue reading Napier Graduate Apprenticeships programme breaks new ground